186 THE COMMONWEALTH OF

Act to 2. The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall
Qoeenrs*0 ^tend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the soye-
successors. reignty of the United Kingdom.

Proclama- 3. It shall be lawful for the Queen with the advice of the
Common- Privy Council to declare by Proclamation1 that, on and after
wealth. a fay therein appointed, not being later than one year after
the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales,
Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and
also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western
Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall
be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of
the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at
any time after the Proclamation, appoint a Governor-
General for the Commonwealth.

Com- 4. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the

ment of Constitution of the Commonwealth shall take effect, on and
ct* after the day so appointed. But the Parliaments of the
several Colonies may at any time after the passing of
this Act make any such laws, to come into operation on the
day so appointed, as they might have made if the Constitu-
tion had taken effect at the passing of this Act.
Operation 5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the
stitution Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on
and Laws. ^ COUT^ judges, and people of every State and of every
part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the
laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall
be in force on all British ships,2 the Queen's ships of war

1 The Proclamation was made on September 17,1900, and the Common-
wealth began its life on January 1,1901.
* This provision was taten from Sec. 20 of the Federal Council-of Aus-
tralasia Act of 1885. It was objected to by Mr. Chamberlain when the
Bill was first brought to England as too wide; but in the face of the deter-
mination of the Australian delegates he waived his objections. See
article by Mr. A. B. Keith, on * Merchant Shipping Legislation in the
Colonies', Journal of Comparative Legislation, 1909, p. 203. See Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Navigation Companies v. Kingston [1908] A.C. -471; and
Xmhant Service GuW of Australia v. A. Ourrie & Co. (£«n.), 5 C,L.B. 737.
Sec. o only applies 'to cases where both the beginning and the end